They Call Me Flame
by dragon-femme-fatale
Summary: Ginny has changed. She's going into her sixth year. A chance encounter the day before school. A façade made to be broken. Draco Malfoy
1. Dragon and Flame

They Call Me Flame

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"Ugh!" Ginny groaned as she rolled out of her bed onto the hard basement floor. _That was one heck of a night last night_ She thought as she looked for something to charm away her hangover. _What happened last night anyways? I must have been really wasted._ As she touched her eye, she remembered part of the night with a sudden jolt of pain. _Oh ya._ She thought _Damn police!_ She had been at a club the night before, The Cheshire Cat, and the muggle police showed up to shut it down because things were getting a bit too wild. She had been so hammered when they'd got there that she resisted being taken out of the bar and gotten punched in the face by one of the cops. _I'm lucky they didn't take me downtown, I was drunk and underaged. I thought I promised I wouldn't do this stuff when I moved out of the house..._, she thought as she gathered her things and headed to the bathroom. Looking in the grimy mirror she saw blood on her eyebrow. _Damn cop_ she thought, rage coursing through her veins, _bloody well almost took my piercing out!_ She had gotten her eyebrow pierced the week before. The others she had gotten at various points through the summer, most done magically, except the one in her nose, which she'd gotten done by a muggle she'd met through her morning job. As she got ready she noticed a numb feeling on her left shoulder. _What the…_ she thought as she noticed the tattoo _I must have been really tanked last night_ she ran her finger along the tattoo which was that of a green serpent wrapped around a blazing scarlet red rose which seemed to have a life of it's own. _I must have ended up in Diagon Alley too, that nice little tattoo place next to Fred and George's shop, nice work…_ Her thought trailed off as she finished getting ready, magicking her now shorter, but equally as blazing red hair, up in it's now common place set up, nice blazing red spikes. _Thank goodness there are so many wizarding delinquents in this house, I can not deal with another underage use of magic warning!_ She put on her spikes and chains. Checking over her make-up and look one final time she glanced over at the clock. _Ten o'clock! Darn it! I was supposed to be at work ten minutes ago._ she shrugged it off,_ Joel will understand._ As she grabbed her wand and ran out of her apartment she heard Ms Knightly, her landlady call after her.

"Don't forget, Virginia, your rent's up tomorrow, you said something about going to school"

"Yes of course Ms Knightly! I'll be out by eight!" she called back.

As she paid the tram fare she thanked Merlin that her father and Harry had taught her so much about muggle stuff. As she got off the tram and stepped into the record store she checked over her attire once more. Her black top had large rips in it that were covered in fishnet and her pants were lowrise but very baggy trailing behind her like a pool of black blood. The vibrant red lipstick added a bit more colour. Her freckles had all but disappeared, but her hair was more shockingly red than ever, her eyes were a deep emerald that rivaled even Harry's.

"Hey Flame," Joel, her boss, called from the back, "finally decided to show up, eh? You know, work begins at 9:50, not 10:50." Poking his head out from the back, he noticed the scrape above her eye, "Nice war-wound, partying with the cops again?"

"Ya, busted up the cat last night" she replied as she tossed her knapsack in the back, "It's my last day you know, going back to school tomorrow."

"Good for you, all the more reason to get your ass in gear and help me back here. At least I know you won't be roaming the streets anymore."

"Not till next summer anyhow."

"Ya well, you just take care, k Flame?"

"mm hm." She answered as she got to working in comfortable silence. The door rang as a customer entered. "Good morning, welcome to Tune Town, how can I help you" She said instinctively. Then she looked at the customer, he had long silvery blonde hair, fixed at the back of his head in a ponytail. _Draco Malfoy?_ she thought _What is he doing in here?_

The boy obviously didn't recognize her. "I'm looking for some good music. Something… Loud" he drawled lazily, obviously not wanting to be there, "but with good vocals, I can't stand the screaming in most mug- *ahem* music today"

_What does Draco want with muggle music? How does he even listen to it? Isn't he the pureblood-down-with-muggles poster boy? Well he doesn't seem to want to be here, maybe he has to run an errand for someone_ She wondered eyeing Malfoy carefully. She nearly scoffed at the last thought, _even if that were possible, he wouldn't, he has servants to do that. "Loud but with good vocals? Well there's a band from the U.S. called Evanescence that I'm sure you'd like."_

"Whatever," he replied, "what's your name?" he asked quizically

"Gin…"_Damn! Can't be telling him that now!_She regained her composure, "They call me Flame, it's the hair, you know."

"Ah, they call me Draco. I thought you looked familiar, but I don't know anyone called Flame" looking at her hair.

"You do now." Ginny said trying to conceal a smile at her deviousness.

"I guess so"

"So you want that CD, or not?"

"Ya sure, I'll have to pay cash, if that's ok." He said, looking a little confused

"Whatever floats your boat Mal- Draco"

"What did you almost call me?" Draco said seeming a bit taken aback. "uh… Malcom, sorry guess you remind me of someone else too." She said quickly covering her error. _He'll find out tomorrow on the train or at school._ She argued with herself _why make a façade you know will break? Unless he's transferred to Dumstrang…_ She turned around to put away some other CDs she had in her hand.

"Nice tattoo, Flame. It looks almost like it's alive"_ *sigh* Gryfindor and Slytherin colours, school starts tomorrow, I'll need to get supplies wonder if I'll need anything new for going to… did the snake just slither? It's like magic!_Draco thought.

"Um, thanks Draco." She replied realizing the fishnet covered hole in her shirt let the shimmering image shine through. _Darn, if he figures out I'm a witch right now he'll realize I'm just Ginny, the Weasel's little sister, the-brat-who-lived wanna-be girlfriend!_ He handed her the cash for the CD. "Here's your change." She said, handing him some coins, gazing intently at the floor. "Ok. See you around Flame."

"See you Draco."_Draco just had a civil conversation with me, a Weasley, but who he thinks is a muggle, this is weird!_

  


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[A/N: Nothing belongs to me save the plot, the stores JK doesn't write about and the people who she also doesn't write about, Ginny, Draco and anyone else from the books belong to her. So far… that's everyone except Joel and Ms Knightly.] 


	2. What Happened This Summer?

They Call Me Flame

Chapter Two

What Happened in the Summer

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Later that night after her afternoon job at Ollivander's cleaning up the messes left after clients came through and picked out wands. _What a messy business, all those wands that don't agree with the person trying them, and Mr. Ollivander is horribly unorganized,_ she thought with a sigh, _just like me, where did I put my dragon scales and wolf's bane?_ She had bought all her school supplies earlier with money she saved up from odd jobs in the backrooms of various shops, anything where the least wizards and witches possible could see her. Her job at Ollivander's had come by chance, being the only wand shop in Diagon Alley, all the first years for Hogwarts went there, Ginny hadn't really ever realized how many there were, or what a mess they could make, so he needed the help. As she thought about the various jobs she'd had, from cage cleaner at Flourish and Blotts, it seems Hagrid still wanted those Monster books, to sweeping up after hours at Gringotts, which also let her make a little extra money with the Knuts they'd drop on the ground on their ways in or out. She'd avoided the Weasley's joke shop, her brothers would have given her all the money she needed, but they'd try to get her to go back home.

That was the last thing she wanted to do. After coming home from her fifth year at Hogwarts with her bellybutton pierced her parents kept treating her like a baby. That made her so angry. On top of everything Ron wouldn't let her do anything, afraid she'd get into trouble, like he should talk, he'd gotten more trouble all around. Just because she hung out with a few Slytherin girls and had exploded a toilet in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom didn't mean she needed that treatment. Within about a week she had been fed up with the baby treatment. She lived on the street for a few days until she heard about Ms Knightly, she charged low rent because she really needed to pay off her mortgage and had no income because her husband had died. A favorite with wizarding teens like Ginny who had run off from home. She needed to pay rent in Muggle money, but that was no problem, she'd learned plenty from her dad and Harry, enough that she was able to get a job at Tune Town in the morning to pay her rent, she ate at a local Soup Kitchen if she didn't have enough money for food. She used her odd job money from Diagon Alley to buy her school supplies. A lot of stuff on the list this year, Dumbledore, of course, knew exactly were to send her letter. She bought herself a bat too. Good for post, but quieter and faster than owls, she had to pay extra for an owl protection charm so her bat wouldn't end up dinner for another animal. But she knew Nightshade could fend for herself. Now it was time to go to school again. Ron hadn't graduated yet, he was going into his seventh year. _How were he and his friends going to take the new me?_ Ginny asked herself. When she was done packing she went to bed. _No time for hanging out tonight, I need to get up in the morning, without a hangover! Plus the cat's shut down, pity really._ As she drifted off to sleep she ran her finger along her tattoo, she could feel the snake slither around every once in a while. _Really cool stuff they can do with a bit of magic._

"Isn't it Nightshade?" She asked the bat, "Oh Nightshade, I should let you out, be careful, and be back before dawn!" She said as she released him through the window, leaving it so he could get back through in the morning. 

_Faithful critters, bats_ She thought as she actually got to sleep _ Creatures of the night, too, my kind of animal._

  


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[A/N: I own nothing, you know that. I hope you like it. I think I'm doing a good job for my first real fic. I'll update again soon. Thanks to anyone who reviews] 


	3. Morning Time, Trains and Pompous Gits

Morning time, Trains and Pompous Gits

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Ginny woke up at 5am the next morning. _Bloody hell I'm up early!_ she thought to herself as she got ready. Wearing a crimson tanktop with a fishnet top over it and the same pants as the day before with a chain laden belt, she felt confident as she straightened out her hair, creating the same feathery red spikes as always. She checked over her trunk one last time. Her wardrobe was completely brand-new, as she'd left all her clothes at home, all of it bought in muggle London with the exception of her Hogwarts robes. She had a new wand, new books, a new cauldron and new gloves. No more hand-me-downs for Ginny. She felt rich for once. She had all her potions supplies and Nightshade was resting peacefully in his cage as though he'd never left. She had her train ticket nestled away deep in one of her large pockets and she scanned over her list of school supplies one last time. Checking her purse she noticed 20 muggle Pounds and 16 Galleons. _I can buy a new CD and snacks on the train!_ She thought with glee _I'll have to figure out how to charm my CD player into working on Hogwarts grounds... there must be someway. I can at least use it on the train._ She placed a lightening charm on her trunk and left the house without a sound. It was 8am by the time she reached Tune Town as she strode through the doors she called to Joel.

"Hey Joel, will you still accept my employee discount? I need a new CD for my trip to school."

"Sure," Joel said poking his head up from behind a row of shelves, "Your friend from yesterday was here again, he wanted to tell you that he enjoyed the CD you suggested, poor kid was out on the street waiting before I even got here."

"Cool," she replied, slightly confused _Draco had been back, to thank someone he thought was a muggle? And Joel gets here at like seven, he must have been here since 6:30! That is so un... Draco!_ "If he comes back, tell him that he's welcome," _Not that he will be. School starts today_ She picked up a CD by a group called Tryo, a french group she was fond of. She'd studied french the summer after her fourth year when her parents took her to France on ministry business and she'd become fluent in French. "Well, I'd best be off to Kings Cross Station or I'll miss my train. See you next summer and keep a job open for me."

"Will do Flame. Be sure to write so I know you're alive."

_Oh man,_ groaned Ginny, _how am I going to be able to use muggle post from Hogwarts?_

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After a stop by a cheque cashing shop to cash her final paycheque from Tune Town, she was finally at King's Cross, and through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. She looked around, seeing none of her friends, or her brother. Heading to the back of the train lugging her trunk behind her. She decided it would be best to avoid any encounters of the brotherly kind and go exactly where her brother and his friends never sat: The very back of the train. Only Slytherins or troublemakers sat that far back, her brother may have gotten into plenty of trouble, but he didn't qualify as a quote unquote troublemaker. Before she entered the empty compartment at the very back of the train she looked around the platform again just in time to see Ron and the brat-who-lived come barreling through the barrier. _Jerks_ she thought _to think I ever had a crush on Harry, he's just an annoying brat. Malfoy was right. He has no real reason to be famous. He didn't do anything, he was just there, he probably doesn't even remember it. Look at that pompous git_ her train of thought derailed as she felt like she was being stared at, she looked towards the front of the train to see Draco looking at her, evidently befuddled _Guess he didn't switch schools. Today is the day the façade will fall, I just know it._ She ducked quickly into her compartment to avoid being seen by her brother or for that fact any member of the tremendous trio. She slumped onto the seat, and pulled out her walkman and put in one of her older CDs, older, but favorite. Something Corporate, she'd gotten it from the bargain bin at Tune Town and with her 20% employee discount only paid 2 Pounds for it. She put it straight to If U C Jordan, it made her think of her brother, about someone who always bugs you, regardless of how stupid or long ago anything was. _*And I don't care if you dye your hair you'll always be a little red head b'tch*_ Ah the beauty of muggle music, and unless she could charm her player otherwise, she'd be without it for a long while. With a sigh she started looking through her Charm book for something, anything. She read and read untill she heard a knock on the compartment door. It was Draco, doing his rounds as usual, though unusually enough, Crabbe and Goyle weren't with him.

"Hello Flame, fancy seeing you here." He said with an uncharacteristic smile.

"I didn't know you were a wizard Draco." She lied, _Why are you trying to keep this up, you're just going to hurt yourself more!_

"I didn't know you were a witch, either. I guess that makes us square. What are you listning to?" he asked taking the seat across from her.

"A muggle group called Something Corporate, great music. I'm just trying to figure out how I can charm my CD player to work at the castle."

"Can I have a listen?"

"Sure" She replied setting it back to If U C Jordan, _I think he'll appreciate this_ They sat in silence as he listened to the song. As it ended he let out a drawling laugh.

"Reminds me of a guy named Weasley" he said "He is such a git."

"Yeah," Ginny responded uncertainly, hoping that the thought of her brother didn't make him put two and two together.

"Have you gone here before? I thought I'd recognized you at the record store."

"Uh, ya... you probably never noticed me before. I was the silent, innocent baby girl," she responded with a tone of resentment for who she used to be, "I didn't really talk to anyone. I just stayed in the library all the time, I never really did anything other than work" she babbled to try and keep the façade alive._But why?_ she asked herself, _there's no point, you know that!_

"Well, I've got to go. I have an appointment to annoy that guy Weasley I was telling you about, and his buddies. How about I come back and I'll help you charm your CD player to work on Hogwarts grounds, I managed to make uh... someone's work and make it so no one else could see it, useful for not getting caught," he said with a mischevious wink as he left up the train.

A while later, the trolley came by and Ginny bought a large amount of Bernie Botts Everyflavoured Beans and Cauldron Cakes. Draco eventually came back looking proud of himself and helped her to charm her CD player before they arrived at Hogwarts. When she was out of the train looking up at the castle she remembered the feast and the house seating. _This is going to be one long night_ She thought as she climbed into an empty carriage, _maybe I'll be able to avoid them, again._

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[A/N: I own nothing, you know that. Well here is chapter 3. Coming along nicely if you ask me. I have all day tomorrow, so I may or may not post a chapter, I'm looking forward to watching the LotR TTT extended edition featurettes and such. So yes. Untill my next post. Ta ta!]


	4. The Sorting Ceremony Without the Feast

The Sorting Ceremony Without the Feast 

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Ginny took a place at the end of the Gryffindor table in the back corner of the Great Hall. Nothing except the Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers had actually changed through her years at Hogwarts. Although there was her fourth year with 'headmaster' Umbitch and the centaur divination teacher, as well as the Sorting Hat's routine change of song.

_**I have been around a thousand years  
Maybe more  
Telling students if they belong in  
Slytherin or Gryffindor  
I'll be here in another thousand  
Telling others the same old stuff  
In a few different songs if  
They should be Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff  
I can see if you're bold and true  
Or if you're smart to the core  
I can see if there's nothing you won't do  
I can tell if you're something more  
I've been here a long while but  
What I do seems to separate  
To cause some quarrels  
And cause debate  
All I want is to give direction  
Not to prevent unity  
So please use your discretion  
With the placement I provide**_

With that the sorting began. McGonagall calling names from the list which seemed to grow longer every year, then the sorting hat calling out house names. Ginny fazed it all out looking around the hall. She saw a bunch of Ravenclawes giggling themselves out of their tree ogling a boy. She saw some Hufflepuffs watching every first year intently guessing amongst themselves which students would be in their house. She saw one Slytherin boy with silver blonde hair watching her from across the room, a look of determined concentration on his face. _Probably still trying to figure out who I remind him of_ she thought to herself smirking. Her face flushed as she realized someone was looking at her. As she looked around the hall she saw a face watching her's from the other end of the Gryffindor table, looking very surprised, Hermione Granger. Ginny loved Hermione, but she didn't want to have to talk to anyone, let alone one of her brother's best friends. Hermione looked away and whispered to Ron. _Oh Gawd, she's going to point me out to him and he's going to come talk to me._ She slipped out of the Great Hall while Hermione wasn't looking. She went to the girls bathroom and slumped against the wall. _I wonder if Ron missed me? I probably shouldn't have left but there are some mistakes that are like jumping out of an airplane, you can't take them back. *sigh* Mom probably didn't care_ she countered bitterly _but yes she would. They loved me so much. But why did I leave then. I make no sense. This is horrid_ She sat in the corner for hours lost in her own thoughts until she heard a bustling murmur in the hall. Coming out of the bathroom she saw a bunch of Gryffindor first years led by Hermione, slipping seamlessly into the group she made her way to the common room with out a word to any of the chattering eleven year olds around her.

"Criosphinx," she heard Hermione say from the front of the group. She slipped into the common room and up to her room without even being noticed by her brother who was sitting in a large winged armchair beside the fire place in a self-pitying trance.

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[A/N: I own none of this. I'm sorry if you don't like this. But I like my writing. Thanks to all my reviewers from the last chapter:  
**Alatariel15  
rose petel   
princess cythera   
Nichole Malfoy  
Ciara  
** Oh and Ciara, I don't even like Tom Felton. He has the worst facial expressions ever, plus, he's a little young for me. So don't talk about that. As well Ginny isn't a true 'punk' in this, she just has her own sense of style.

I have my first/last exam tomorrow if it's not a snow day. Good night! I'll update probably on Wednesday.]


	5. Face to Face Outside the Showers

Face to Face Outside the Showers 

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Ginny woke up groggily. _It's too early for me. This is going to take alot of getting used to._ she thought as she rolled out of bed, gathering her clothes and heading to the bathroom. She got under the water in the shower and melted under the drumming of warm water on her skin. _I can get used to this... but what about Ron, he's going to see me and talk to me eventually. How am I going to deal with that_ As she came out of the shower she came face to face with the one and only, Hermione Granger.

"Ginny," she whispered.

"Ya," Ginny said, her eyes downcast._ I am so not ready for this yet._ "What do you want Granger?" she asked spitefully, raising her eyes in one fiery motion.

"What happened? You'd think you had died the way Ron goes on about you. He's so depressed he feels it's his fault you left, he hasn't seen..."

"It was his fault," Ginny interupted sharply, "everyone treating me like a baby, but at the same time telling me I'm 'old enough to know better' about everything I do. They just couldn't make up their minds. And there were so many of them, the entire family was home doing the same thing. I needed to get away."

"But they miss you Gin, Ron is worried out of his mind! He thinks you've died or something. He broke the clock in the Burrow because it said that you were 'Home' when he knew you were missing..."

"That would be my new home, in muggle London, nobody treats me as inferior there."

"You may think so, Ginny, but your home is with your familly. With Ron, and Fred, and George, and all your other brothers."

"Like they really care," Ginny muttered.

"They do!" Hermione exclaimed, "You weren't there during the summer. You didn't see the looks of worry that plagued everyone all the time. You weren't there! You need to talk to Ron! He doesn't even know you're at Hogwarts."

"Maybe I wil... wait, what? You saw me yesterday, and you didn't tell him? I thought..."

"I thought you needed to take your own time."

"I need to get ready for class," Ginny whispered weakly, "See you around Herm."

"Bye Ginny, talk to Ron, please? I can't stand much more seeing him like this." Ginny looked into Hermione's eyes, in which tears were welling up, "Please." she added one last time. Ginny gave a weak nod and left the bathroom. 

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[A/N: I hope you're enjoying this. I don't own anything. Thanks to all my reviewers. And I've decided to start putting HP trivia for you to guess. When you review you can guess. I just think it will be fun because there is barely anyone who ever gets these right without checking the book.

**What song is Uncle Vernon humming while he is boarding up the doors and such to keep any letters for Harry from being delivered?**

I'm having a bit of trouble keeping this story, so I may take a bit to update again. Review, Review, Review!]


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